UNIT TEST ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

Article Info:

Housley, Sharon. Impact of Technology on Politics. FeedForAll, 2012.

The continued growth of technology has had a significant impact on the political ratings that
candidates achieve. The article Impact of Technology on Politics attempts to analyze how these
two spheres of modern life, technology and politics, interrelate and what the outcomes are of this
interrelationship.

Political candidates use technology in many ways. Different communication channels provided by
the Internet have the power to influence the growth of different individuals in their respective
spheres. The likes of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are powerful communication media
platforms that can easily raise the ratings of political candidates.Housley claims that whether
we acknowledge it or not, technology is a deciding factor in most political races. Through technology,
politicians are able to access funds, gain political pundits, and spend less on campaigning and
pushing their candidacy.

One of the ways in which technology influences politics is the financial side. Raising funds to
use for campaigning is an important factor for political candidates. It comes with the need to create
a vertical response to the whole country or target region. This is a major hurdle experienced by
political candidates. The Internet aided Howard Dean to get donations that he required to gain
access to a large part of the campaign region. By broadcasting through technological marketing,
candidates get suitable donors to support different parts of their campaigns. Publicity on the Internet
is a cheap method, as they do not have to re-publish, unlike what is provided by the print media.
This is placed in various commonly-accessed links (Housley, Par. 1).

The Internet enables politicians to use podcasting. The act of podcasting can make anyone a
journalist. Through podcasting, politicians are able to portray a journalistic stature, thereby ensuring
that the information is considered credible. Self-proclamation of politicians through pundits is easily
spread through messages. It is, however, difficult for politicians to guarantee the integrity of the
information posted. The Internet can be accessed by anyone and podcasts can be posted by anyone.
The integrity of information is therefore difficult to preserve, hence, many potential candidates may
have to establish a verifiable connection with various achievements. All in all, gaining political
publicity through podcasts is a common but expensive method to use, Housley admits. However, it
is logical to assume that when correctly utilized, this is an extremely powerful political tool that pays
off completely.

According to Housley, the impact of technology is great on a given generation. The young,
educated, and affluent will relate to technological innovations. A proper presentation will gain
ratings for candidates. Using the most recent technology will surely attract the youth. The older
generation may not impact the raising of presidential bids, especially if they are done through social
media. The older generation uses the Internet much less. The younger generation relates easily to
these media platforms. This differentiation is used by politicians to gain advantage in their political
bids. Politicians use technology to raise their bids among the youth, while traditional methods are
used for the older generation.
Another way to look at the matter is in relation to thinking about the Internet as a tool for free
advertising. It is no secret that presidential bids are the most expensive, as they are run to cover
the whole region. On the other hand, political videos easily generate online rating gains, and such
political Internet advertisement will reach the target audience if launched properly. Individuals
perform the needed publicity as each person shares the video, and so on. The extra generated
videos are not paid for, while on social networks even the original posting is free.

It is clear that gaining political publicity through the use of technology has become easier, especially
since technological devices are so accessible and widespread. The article analyzed is prudent in
arranging technological tools into separate groups that work as a effective means of communicating
between a political figure and the target audience. However, with the use of the Internet, any political
figure can become recognizable within just a few minutes. In only a few hours, public opinion on a
particular political figure is already formed within one of the social groups of voters. Not just the good,
but also a bad reputation can be formed in a blink of an eye using modern technology. It often
happens that the bad “gossip” spreads much faster. With the huge impact that technology has on
societies and public opinion in particular, it is crucial to be cautious in the use of information about
any political figure, or you risk making a positive advertisement into a negative advertisement with
just one click.

What function/s of a review article was/were exemplified in the text given above? Justify.

• to organize literature

• to evaluate literature

• to identify patterns and trends in the literature

• to synthesize literature

• to identify research gaps and recommend new research area

Who is/are the audiences of review articles? Explain.

• experts in specific research areas

• students or novice researchers

• decision-makers
Matching type

Presentation of the most current research for Status quo review

a given topic or field of research.
Findings from various individual studies are Systematic review
analyzed statistically by strict procedures.
Meta-Analyses are used to pool the results
of individual studies.
Development of a field of research over time. History review

Investigation of an issue (i.e. a point of Issue review

disagreement or a question) in a specific
field of research.
Introduction of a new theory or model in a Theory/model review
specific field of research.